Auburn hammers Hoosiers in Holiday Hoopsgiving
ATLANTA - Auburn made a season-high 14 3-pointers, tied the program record with only three turnovers and finished the first half with a nearly flawless stretch to beat Indiana 104-76 Saturday in Holiday Hoopsgiving at State Farm Arena.
"A great victory over a historic program," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. "We played really well. I don't know that we can play much better. We shot it well, defended well, took care of the basketball and each player played to the level of their ability at a high end."
Aden Holloway connected on 5 of 8 3 3-pointers and scored a career-high 24 points and Jaylin Williams tied his career-high with 24 to pace six Tigers in double figures. K.D. Johnson scored 14 points, Denver Jones added 12, Chad Baker-Mazara scored 11 and Tre Donaldson scored 10.
The Tigers produced a sensational 25-3 assist-to-turnover ratio, committing their last one while holding the ball in the final seconds.
"That was beautiful basketball," Pearl said. "That's a big win for our league. That's our best win of the year so far."
Auburn connected on 14 of 29 3-pointers, a 48.3-percent clip, while making 20 of 23 free throws and outrebounding the Hoosiers 39-35. Dylan Cardwell led Auburn with eight rebounds and Johni Broome grabbed seven.
Auburn turned a 12-point deficit into an 18-point halftime lead, outscoring the Hoosiers 42-12 over the final 12 minutes and 33 seconds of the half.
The Hoosiers came out hot, hitting 4 of 5 3-pointers to take a 16-6 lead out of the first media timeout, with Holloway's pair of 3-pointers accounting for Auburn's first points.
"That didn't rattle us at all," Johnson said. "We stuck together and fought until we came back."
Indiana used a 6-0 run to take a 22-10 lead, Auburn's biggest deficit of the season, before back-to-back 3-pointers by Williams and Jones cut the deficit in half at the under-12 media timeout.
Auburn erased the deficit entirely before the next timeout on a 6-0 run that featured Holloway's layup in traffic sandwiched between four Jones free throws.
Playing in his hometown, K.D. Johnson made highlight-reel reverse layups deserving of an NBA venue and gave Auburn its first lead with a pair of free throws.
Williams' follow-up slam capped a 12-0 run that energized the thousands of Auburn fans in attendance. Williams led the Tigers with seven assists and added six rebounds.
Johnson drew a foul on a reverse layup that took the crowd noise to another level before giving the Tigers a double-digit lead with another layup after Baker-Mazara's steal and assist.
"You can see a little bit of SEC speed and athleticism that was a factor in that game," Pearl said. "I'm really proud of K.D. for hanging in there and knowing this is what he can do to turn a game around."
Tre Donaldson's steal led to another Johnson layup to put Auburn up by 15 before another Indiana turnover led to Holloway's 3-pointer with 3 seconds left for a 52-34 halftime advantage.
"I got some clean looks early which got me going," Holloway said. "It was good after that."
The Tigers had 13 assists in the half against only one turnover while making four steals and outscoring Indiana 11-0 in points off turnovers.
Indiana shaved seven points off the lead to pull within 11 early in the second half before Williams, Baker-Mazara and Johnson made 3-pointers, with K.D's 3 giving the Tigers a 21-point advantage.
Donaldson and Lior Berman added 3s to give Auburn a 24-point lead, with Donaldson's second 3 putting Auburn past the century mark.
"They physically took us out of everything we wanted to do," Indiana coach Mike Woodson said. "You've got to give them credit."
Auburn (6-2) heads to Huntsville, Alabama, to play UNC Asheville Wednesday at 7 p.m. CT in the Rocket City Classic at Von Braun Center.